The '' Sutta'' (

Pali Pali () is a Middle Indo-Aryan liturgical language native to the Indian subcontinent. It is widely studied because it is the language of the Buddhist ''Pāli Canon'' or '' Tipiṭaka'' as well as the sacred language of '' Theravāda'' Buddh ...

) or ' (

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural diffusion ...

), is traditionally recorded as the second discourse delivered by

Gautama Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha, was a wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist tradition, he was born in L ...

. The title translates to the "Not-Self Characteristic Discourse", but is also known as the ''Pañcavaggiya Sutta'' (Pali) or ''Pañcavargīya Sūtra'' (Skt.), meaning the "Group of Five" Discourse.

In this discourse, the Buddha analyzes the constituents of a person's body and mind (''

khandha (Sanskrit) or ( Pāḷi) means "heaps, aggregates, collections, groupings". In Buddhism, it refers to the five aggregates of clinging (), the five material and mental factors that take part in the rise of craving and clinging. They are als ...

'') and demonstrates that they are each impermanent (''

anicca Impermanence, also known as the philosophical problem of change, is a philosophical concept addressed in a variety of religions and philosophies. In Eastern philosophy it is notable for its role in the Buddhist three marks of existence. It i ...

''), subject to suffering ('' dukkha'') and thus unfit for identification with a "self" (''attan''). The Pali version of this discourse reads: ::"Form, ... feeling, ... perception, ... entalfabrications, ... consciousness is not self. If consciousness were the self, this consciousness would not lend itself to dis-ease. It would be possible o saywith regard to consciousness, 'Let my consciousness be thus. Let my consciousness not be thus.' But precisely because consciousness is not self, consciousness lends itself to dis-ease. And it is not possible o saywith regard to consciousness, 'Let my consciousness be thus. Let my consciousness not be thus.'... ::"Thus, monks, any form, ... feeling, ... perception, ... fabrications, ... consciousness whatsoever that is past, future, or present; internal or external; blatant or subtle; common or sublime; far or near: every consciousness is to be seen as it actually is with right discernment as: 'This is not mine. This is not my self. This is not what I am.' ::"Seeing thus, the well-instructed disciple of the noble ones grows disenchanted with form, disenchanted with feeling, disenchanted with perception, disenchanted with fabrications, disenchanted with consciousness. Disenchanted, he becomes dispassionate. Through dispassion, he is fully released. With full release, there is the knowledge, 'Fully released.' He discerns that 'Birth is ended, the holy life fulfilled, the task done. There is nothing further for this world.'"Thanissaro (1993).
(Square-bracketed text is in the source.)

In Buddhist canons

In the

Pali Canon The Pāli Canon is the standard collection of scriptures in the Theravada Buddhist tradition, as preserved in the Pāli language. It is the most complete extant early Buddhist canon. It derives mainly from the Tamrashatiya school. During ...

, the ''Anattalakkhana Sutta'' is found in the Samyutta Nikaya ("Connected Collection," abbreviated as either "SN" or "S") and is designated by either "SN 21.59" (SLTP) or "SN 22.59" (CSCD) or "S iii 66" ( PTS). This discourse is also found in the Buddhist monastic code (''

Vinaya The Vinaya (Pali & Sanskrit: विनय) is the division of the Buddhist canon ('' Tripitaka'') containing the rules and procedures that govern the Buddhist Sangha (community of like-minded ''sramanas''). Three parallel Vinaya traditions rema ...

'').Rhys Davids & Oldenberg (1881), the Mahavagga, First Khandhaka, §6, vv. 38–47.
/ref> In the Chinese set of Āgamas, this discourse can be found as Saṃyukta Āgama 34, or "SA 34". A version of this sutra, called the Aṇatvalakṣaṇa Sutra, is found among the Gāndhārī Buddhist Texts attributed to the

Dharmaguptaka The Dharmaguptaka (Sanskrit: धर्मगुप्तक; ) are one of the eighteen or twenty early Buddhist schools, depending on the source. They are said to have originated from another sect, the Mahīśāsakas. The Dharmaguptakas had a p ...

sect.https://gandhari-texts.sydney.edu.au/text/a%e1%b9%87atvalak%e1%b9%a3a%e1%b9%87a-sutra/

Notes

Sources

* Chaṭṭha Sagāyana CD (CSCD) (n.d.), "Khandhasaṃyuttaṃ" ( SN 22). Retrieved 2010-12-29 from "The Pali Tipitaka" at http://tipitaka.org/romn/cscd/s0303m.mul0.xml. * Mendis, N.K.G. (tr., ed.) (1979). ''On the No-self Characteristic: The Anatta-lakkhana Sutta'' (The Wheel No. 268). Kandy:

Buddhist Publication Society The Buddhist Publication Society (BPS) is a publishing house with charitable status whose objective is to disseminate the teaching of Gautama Buddha. It was founded in Kandy, Sri Lanka in 1958 by two Sri Lankan lay Buddhists, A.S. Karunaratna and ...

. Retrieved 2007-10-03 from "Access to Insight" (2007) at http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/mendis/wheel268.html. * Ñanamoli Thera (tr., ed.) (1981). ''Three Cardinal Discourses of the Buddha'' (The Wheel No. 17). Kandy: Buddhist Publication Society. Retrieved 2007-10-03 from "Access to Insight" (1995) at http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/nanamoli/wheel017.html. * Rhys Davids, T.W. & Hermann Oldenberg (''tr.'') (1881). ''Vinaya Texts''. Oxford: Clarendon Press. Retrieved 26 Sep 2007 from "Internet Sacred Texts Archive" at http://www.sacred-texts.com/bud/sbe13/index.htm. * Sri Lanka Tripitaka Project (SLTP) (n.d.), "Upayavaggo" ( SN 21.6). Retrieved 2010-12-19 from "MettaNet" at http://metta.lk/tipitaka/2Sutta-Pitaka/3Samyutta-Nikaya/Samyutta3/21-Khandha-Samyutta/02-01-Upayavaggo-p.html. * Thanissaro Bhikkhu (tr.) (1993). ''Pañcavaggi Sutta: Five Brethren'' ( SN 22.59). Retrieved 2010-12-29 from "Access to Insight" at http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/sn/sn22/sn22.059.than.html.

External links

Translations
The Characteristic of Nonself
translation by

Bhikkhu Bodhi Bhikkhu Bodhi (born December 10, 1944), born Jeffrey Block, is an American Theravada Buddhist monk, ordained in Sri Lanka and currently teaching in the New York and New Jersey area. He was appointed the second president of the Buddhist Publ ...

The Characteristic of Not-Self
translation by

Bhikkhu Sujato Bhante Sujato, known as Ajahn Sujato or Bhikkhu Sujato (born Anthony Best), is an Australian Theravada Buddhist monk ordained into the Thai forest lineage of Ajahn Chah. Life Bhante Sujato identifies as an anarchist. A former musician with ...

* From the Saṃyukta Āgama translated by Guṇabhadra (T02n99). * http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/sn/sn22/sn22.059.mend.html {{Buddhism topics Samyutta Nikaya

Contents

In Buddhist canons

See also

Notes

Sources

External links